"Sunderland is a perfectly fine, valid part of the British Isles so when the offer came in we thought why not? They are very receptive audiences up there, that part of the world has always been very friendly to PiL.

"We're performing on Jools Holland the day after, but Split will be our last British gig for a while. Expect to see a finely dressed, very thin young man with sweet dulcet tones singing songs of love and joy."

Futureheads guitarist Ross Millard, who helps organise the Split festival with his bandmates, described booking Lydon's band as a huge coup.

He said:

"It's exciting for us to be bringing one of punk rock, and in fact Britain's, biggest icons in Johnny Rotten to Split Festival."

He said Public Image Limited are iconic and hugely influential with "integrity" and "a huge fan base."

The Futureheads will bring proceedings to a close on Sunday night, with a whole host of local and national talent also playing.

"We are really excited about headlining Split this year, we decided to take a break last year and it was agony being there and not playing.

"Over the past four years we have learned bit by bit how to create an event that is worthy of the great crowds that Sunderland has to offer. We put all of our energy in to improving any aspects we can each year so this is set to be the best yet. We always want to next to be better than the last."

St Etienne, Pulled Apart By Horses and the recently Mercury Music prize-nominated Field Music will be performing on the main stage.

There'll also be a fringe tent, headlined by The Unthanks (Saturday) and Future Of The Left (Sunday); a folk tent, featuring 2009 BBC Folk Musician of the Year Tom McConville; a comedy tent and vintage fair.

Split Festival started as a one-day affair three years ago, and has since played host to bands such as Maximo Park, The Charlatans and The Drums.

James Hunt is a recent graduate from the BA Sports Journalism course at Sunderland University. He says he loves most sports, including cricket and football